100 Years Ago Today: The Trial of Leo Frank Begins

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Leo-Frank-Atlanta-Georgian-courtroom-sketch-340x264

Originally published by the American Mercury on the 100th anniversary of the Leo Frank trial.

Take a journey through time with the American Mercury, and experience the trial of Leo Frank (pictured, in courtroom sketch) for the murder of Mary Phagan just as it happened as revealed in contemporary accounts. The Mercury will be covering this historic trial in capsule form from now until August 26, the 100th anniversary of the rendering of the verdict.

by Bradford L. Huie

THE JEWISH ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE (ADL) — in great contrast to the American Mercury and other independent media — has given hardly any publicity to the 100th anniversary of the murder of Mary Phagan and the arrest and trial of Leo Frank, despite the fact that these events eventually led to the foundation of the ADL. Probably the League is saving its PR blitz for 1915, not only because that is centenary of Leo Frank’s death by lynching (an event possibly of much greater interest to the League’s wealthy donors than the death of Mary Phagan, a mere Gentile factory girl), but also because encouraging the public to read about Frank’s trial might not be good for the ADL — it might well lead to doubts about the received narrative, which posits an obviously innocent Frank persecuted by anti-Semitic Southerners looking for a Jewish scapegoat.

For readers not familiar with the case, a good place to start is Scott Aaron’s summary of the crime, from his The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank, which states in part:

“ON SATURDAY morning at 11:30, April 26, 1913 Mary Phagan ate a poor girl’s lunch of bread and boiled cabbage and said goodbye to her mother for the last time. Dressed for parade-watching (for this was Confederate Memorial Day) in a lavender dress, ribbon-bedecked hat, and parasol, she left her home in hardscrabble working-class Bellwood at 11:45, and caught the streetcar for downtown Atlanta.

“Before the festivities, though, she stopped to see Superintendent Leo M. Frank at the National Pencil Company and pick up from him her $1.20 pay for the one day she had worked there during the previous week….

“Almost no one knew it at the time, but by one o’clock one young life was already over. For her there would never again be parades, or music, or kisses, or flowers, or children, or love. Mary Phagan never left the National Pencil Company alive. Abused, beaten, and strangled by a rough cord pulled so tightly that it had embedded itself deeply in her girlish neck and made her tongue protrude more than an inch from her mouth, Mary Phagan lay dead, dumped in the dirt and shavings of the pencil company basement, her once-bright eyes now sightless and still as she lay before the gaping maw of the furnace where the factory trash was burned.”

Continue Reading →

Beavers Says He Will Seek Indictments

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Beavers SaysAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

“Gang of Vice Promoters Have Been After Me,” Declares Police Chief.

Chief of Police J. L. Beavers, in answering the turmoil of accusations of graft and frame-ups which have been cast at himself and Detective Chief Lanford, declared the whole to be the result of a plot of gangsters which has been working against him ever since he closed up the Tenderloin section of Atlanta.

“This whole proposition is a fight against me by a gang of vice promoters,” declared Chief Beavers. “Tom Felder is the leader of it and C. C. Jones is his chief lieutenant.

“They have made repeated attempts to attack me. Only last Christmas I learned that they had offered $300 to a man if he would get me into a room with a woman of ill fame.

“Their action now is the result of the constant prodding I have been giving them. They have had to come out into the open and fight. This is going to be a fight to the finish, too.

“I am going to carry this matter before the Grand Jury. It is going to be a fight to the finish, even though I get killed in the meantime.”

* * *

Atlanta Georgian, May 24th 1913, “Beavers Says He Will Seek Indictments,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Residents of Bellwood Ask The Journal to Say That Mr. Felder Was Not Employed by Them

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Residents of Bellwood

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Certain residents of Bellwood, the part of Atlanta where live Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Coleman, the parents of little Mary Phagan, wish The Journal to put them publicly on record in denouncing as absolutely untrue certain published reports to the effect that a subscription has been collected from them to employ Attorney Thomas B. Felder or any other lawyer, to assist in the prosecution of the alleged slayer.

Saturday morning, J. W. Hammond, of 161 Bellwood avenue, delivered the following statement to The Journal:

“There is absolutely no truth in the report that a subscription has been started by the residents of Bellwood to employ Thomas B. Felder to assist in the prosecution of the slayer or little Mary Phagan. I have lived out there for a long time, and certainly would have been approached had such a move been started.

“When I heard of the list, and yet did not see it, I could not understand why the persons circulating it had not been to me.

“I began to inquire around, and soon became convinced that no such move had been started.

“The people out here know of no such thing having been attempted, and certainly all of us would have been more than willing to give—had we wanted Mr. Felder.

“He simply ‘butted in.’”

J. M. Redd, proprietor of a drug store at 195 Bellwood avenue, declared to The Journal, with Mr. Hammond, that he had never been approached for funds and had heard of no such list being circulated.

George C. Barron, of 151 Wheeler street, how is conducting a series of revival meetings in Bellwood, was another who desired to be quoted. He said that he had heard nothing of the subscription being gotten up. Continue Reading →

Blease Ironic in Comments on Felder Trap

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Blease IronicAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

COLUMBIA, S. C., May 24.—When asked for a comment upon the Felder dictograph story, Governor Blease dictated the following:

I do not see that it is necessary for me to give out any interview or to have anything to say. It is not inside of my State and I do not suppose anybody that knows Tom Felder would be surprised if he is guilty, or if this is a scheme worked up by him to get a little cheap notoriety and advertisement.

However, I presume that the members of the Atlanta Bar will immediately furnish certificates of character for their darling Tommy and show that he is above suspicion and a gentleman of the highest character, with an unblemished reputation as a man and attorney, and if a court of Georgian should order his arrest that his friends will forthwith call out the militia and have him released, as they know of his character and reputation and will not for a moment allow Tommy to be interfered with. I am satisfied that poor little misled Joe Brown has had his pardon clerk already fixing up a release for his innocent darling in case of any conviction.

And, as a matter of course, the gutter snipes who went over to August from South Carolina will hurry to offer their services to go on sweet Tommy’s bond, and also to appear in the courts, along with Seaboard Bill and his friend, J. F. Lyon, who have heretofore been his bosom friends in his defense—all save Chairman Carlisle, who, I suppose, will be too busy “moseying” to leave his own State just now.

Consequently all will be well. Birds of a feather flock together, and of course if the lead buzzard rings his bell the congregation will assemble.

* * *

Atlanta Georgian, May 24th 1913, “Blease Ironic in Comments on Felder Trap,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Chief Lanford Replies to Col. T. B. Felder

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Chief LanfordAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

“Where Is Col. Felder’s Fee in Phagan Case Coming From?” He Asks

Chief of Detectives Newport Lanford told The Journal Saturday afternoon that he doesn’t want to make any formal statement at this time regarding the charges of Colonel Thomas B. Felder. The charges were absurd, as any one familiar with the workings of the detective department would know, he said. The “personal attacks” were entirely unwarranted, he said.

“I want Felder to answer this question,” the chief said. “Why was he working without fees? Ask him where were his fees coming coming from.”

Chief of Police Beavers said he did not care to discuss the matter at this time.

* * *

Atlanta Journal, May 24th 1913, “Chief Lanford Replies to Col. T. B. Felder,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Frame-Up Aimed at Burns’ Men, Says Tobie

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FrameAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Denouncing A. S. Colyar as an “eagle-beaked crook,” W. C. Tobie, the Burns detective who is here making an investigation of the Phagan case, declared on Saturday that the charges of bribery and double-dealing brought against Felder were a frame-up concocted by the Pinkerton Detective Agency and the Atlanta Police Department, with these three ends in view:

To discredit the Burns Agency.

To drive the Burns Agency from the State of Georgia.

To discredit Colonel Felder because he employed Burns men.

Tobie charges also that Colyar was used as the “capper” in the frame-up. He declares that Colyar tried to induce him to be a party to a fake frame-up on the Police Department and the Pinkertons, and that Colyar invited him to attend the conference at the Williams House No. 2 between Colonel Felder, G. C. February [sic] and Colyar. He declares that Colyar told him he had affidavits that proved crookedness and graft in the Police Department and that he heard Colyar, on last Sunday, offer to sell the evidence to Colonel Felder for a stipulated sum. He declares also that Colyar said he wanted to get even with the police because they had arrested him once.

Tobie’s Complete Statement.

Mr. Tobie’s complete statement, in which he outlines the position of the Burns Agency in the squabble, follows: Continue Reading →

Frank’s Attorneys Make No Comment

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Frank's AttorneysAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Neither L. Z. Rosser Nor Herbert Haas Had Any Statement to Make

“Not a word to say,” was Attorney Luther Z. Rosser’s comment when informed by a Journal reporter that his client, Leo M. Frank, had been indicted by the grand jury for the murder of Mary Phagan.

Mr. Rosser held in his hand a Journal extra telling of the affidavit by the negro, James Connally [sic], that on the day before the tragedy Mr. Frank called him into his (Frank’s) office and asked him to dictate two notes, and that he believes the notes he dictated are the same ones found beside the murdered girl’s body in the pencil factory basement.

Asked if he would permit The Journal to interview Mr. Frank, Mr. Rosser said he would not.

“I have no statement to make. You’d better see Mr. Rosser,” was the reply of Attorney Herbert Haas when seen a few moments later by the same reporter and informed of Mr. Frank’s indictment.

Mr. Haas is associated with Mr. Rosser in the defense.

He likewise declined to permit Mr. Frank to be interviewed.

* * *

Atlanta Journal, May 24th 1913, “Frank’s Attorneys Make No Comment,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Strangulation Charge is in Indictments

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Strangulation Charge

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

True Bills Already Drawn by Solicitor Against Frank and Lee.

The Grand Jury resumed Saturday morning the Phagan murder case with indictments against Leo M. Frank and Newt Lee charging strangulation.

While nothing definite could be learned, it was confidently expected at the office of the Solicitor Saturday morning the case of Frank might be completed during the day. Only a few more witnesses were to be called. It was learned, and these could tell what they knew in a few hours.

The indictments are the first of the kind to have been drawn in Fulton County in the recollection of the oldest court officials, and for this reason the exact verbiage is being kept secret. Fearing that if the indictments are not drawn in strict conformity to law, there would of course be some question of their validity, and there being so little law on this particular form of indictment, the Solicitor would not make public the phrasing of the bill until his assistant could find some precedent in the Supreme Court records.

It became known Saturday that none of the “star” witnesses for the State would go before the Grand Jury unless at the last moment the Solicitor thought it would be necessary to introduce them to secure the bill. Those who testified Friday were the detectives who appeared before the Coroner, and similar witnesses are awaiting their turn to be called upon Saturday.

The city detectives are the principal witnesses. From their investigation and examination of witnesses they are telling the Grand Jury everything they have found out. The Solicitor was confident this form of introducing evidence would not only greatly expedite matters, but would present the case in a more concise form. Continue Reading →

Felder is Charged with Bribe Offer for Phagan Papers

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Felder is ChargedAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

City Detective Department Holds Statements Alleging Attorney Made Attempt to Secure Coleman Affidavit.

SAY FELDER OFFERED $1,000 FOR THE PAPER

Report of Conversation Between Col. Felder, Secretary Febuary and A. S. Colyar Taken Down by Gentry

Colonel Thomas B. Felder—the man who brought the dictograph south and used it with such telling effect in the Blease investigation in South Carolina—has himself [several words illegible] and a charge of [several words illegible] against him and [several words illegible] which [several words illegible] the department declared [several words illegible].

Charges are made that Colonel Felder offered a bribe of $1,000 in order to have affidavits [1 word illegible] Phagan murder case stolen from the [1 word illegible] of Chief of Detectives N. A. Lanford and that he offered  [several words illegible] the chief’s secretary if he would make the theft.

The charges are backed up by a detailed dictograph record of [several words illegible] which took place in a room of the Williams house No. 2 last Wednesday [several words illegible] Colonel Felder, Secretary G. C. Febuary and A. S. Colyar, [several words illegible] the [several words illegible] according to sworn statement by George M. Gentry [several words illegible] the expert [several words illegible] who is a nephew of Colonel W. T. Gentry [several words illegible].

Affidavit Says Felder Approached Colemans

The affidavit which the detectives declare Felder offered $1,000 to gain is a statement signed by Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Coleman and stepfather and mother of Mary Phagan. In this statement they [1 word illegible] that Colonel Felder approached them and [several words illegible] it would not cost them 1 cent.

Affiant told him he did not want to employ him and did not want to have anything to do with him, reads the affidavit. It goes on to explain that Mr. and Mrs. Coleman are satisfied with the work of the Atlanta police department. Continue Reading →

Girl Strangled, Says Indictment

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Girl StrangledAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Grand Jury is Now Engaged in Conducting Investigation of the Murder of Mary Phagan.

That the state in its bills of indictment for the murder of Mary Phagan, brought separately against Leo M. Frank and Newt Lee, charges that the girl was strangled, was learned yesterday afternoon following the adjournment of the grand jury, which took up the case at 11 o’clock in the morning and went into its details until 1:45.

Shortly after the adjournment of the grand jury Solicitor Hugh M. Dorsey expressed himself as well pleased with the results of the morning session.

“I am well satisfied with results to the present time,” said the solicitor when asked how the case was progressing.

“No, I can’t say how many or what witnesses I will place on the stand tomorrow,” he replied. “That depends to a great extent on the members of the grand jury and on how they feel in regard to the matter.”

Hearing Resumed Today.

The hearing will be resumed at 10 o’clock today, and according to Solicitor Hugh Dorsey, he is uncertain as to whether or not a conclusion will be reached during the day’s session, which is expected to adjourn shortly after 1 o’clock.

Six witnesses were taken before the grand jury by the solicitor in his attempt to secure indictments. The indictments were drawn separately, but were presented at the same time. Both the men held are charged with murder, that being the charge upon which the coroner’s jury bound them over to the grand jury.

Witnesses Before Jury.

The witnesses examined were Dr. J. W. Hurt, recently elected county physician, who examined the body before it was interred; Police Sergeant L. S. Dobbs, one of the officers who first found the body; R. P. Barrett, the machinist who found the evidences of blood and hair on a machine in the factory; “Boots Rogers, in whose machine the officers rode to the factory on the morning the girl was found, and City Detective J. N. Starnes, whose names appears as prosecutor on both bills of indictment. Continue Reading →

Newt Lee Will Give Convicting Evidence Attorney Indicates

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Newt Lee WillAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Bernard L. Chappell, Lawyer for Negro Suspect, Declares His Client’s Testimony to Be Invaluable to the Case

Bernard L. Chappell, attorney for Newt Lee, the negro night watchman held as a suspect in connection with the murder of Mary Phagan, gave The Journal a statement Saturday indicating that his client will give practically convicting evidence as to the identity of the murderer.

“I consider his testimony the strongest known to the public against the guilty party,” said Mr. Chappell. “Before I would see him released and give the guilty party a chance to get his hands on Lee, I, his attorney, would swear out a warrant to hold him for the murder of Mary Phagan.”

It is to be presumed from the tone of Mr. Chappell’s card that Lee has given his attorney information yet withheld from the detectives. Mr. Chappell’s card to The Journal follows in full:

“To The Journal: I represent Newt Lee, the Phagan suspect. I wish to state that anyone who says that Newt Lee, the negro suspect in the Mary Phagan case, should be set free, is wrong, and before I would see him released and give the guilty part of this, the deepest and foulest murder ever committed in our state, a chance to get his hands on Lee, I, his attorney, would swear out a warrant to hold him for the murder of Mary Phagan.

“I consider his testimony the strongest known to the public against the guilty party. I want the public to know that it is my desire that the state’s custodian, our sheriff, C. W. Mangum, must hold my client, Newt Lee, to help avenge the murder of the little Mary Phagan girl whose blood cries to the Creator of us all.

“(Signed)

“BERNARD L. CHAPPELL.

“Attorney for Newt Lee.”

* * *

Atlanta Journal, May 24th 1913, “Newt Lee Will Give Convicting Evidence Attorney Indicates,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Colyar Called Convict and Insane

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A. S. Colyar, who figures in the dictograph sensation. Records show he has been confined in two insane asylums and numerous prisons. His operations are alleged to extend from New York to Mexico. He is a member of a prominent Tennessee family. His exploits with the dictograph have created a big sensation in the Phagan case.

A. S. Colyar, who figures in the dictograph sensation. Records show he has been confined in two insane asylums and numerous prisons. His operations are alleged to extend from New York to Mexico. He is a member of a prominent Tennessee family. His exploits with the dictograph have created a big sensation in the Phagan case.

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Records Show He Has Been Confined in Numerous Prisons and Twice in Asylum.

Who is A. S. Colyar?

The records show that Colyar was once confined in the Middle Tennessee Insane Asylum, and that more recently he was sent to Lyons View, the East Tennessee Asylum. Information from Nashville is that he served time in prisons all over the State, as well as in Sing Sing, New York, and a jail in Virginia. Telegrams from Chattanooga paint him as a wild adventurer who spends considerable time in prison and is always in trouble.

In Prison Many Times.

NASHVILLE, TENN., May 24.—A. S. Colyar is a son of the late A. S. Colyar, of this city, one of the most brilliant lawyers and statesmen Tennessee ever produced. When not violently insane his mind works brilliantly, but always to the wrong end. He has been in prison time after time, but always evaded long sentences through influence of his father’s friends.

Young Colyar’s most noted exploit, as it is understood here, consisted in connection with the famous Mollineux murder case in New York. He went from Nashville to New York, saw General Mollineux and offered to have his son acquitted for $20,000.

“Your son is innocent,” Colyar is reported to have said, “One of my clients, now in the Tennessee penitentiary, is guilty. He confessed to me. For $20,000 I can get him out of the penitentiary, bring him here, induce him to confess and save your son’s life.”

Next day, so the story here runs, General Mollineux advanced him half the money, Colyar went back to Nashville, engaged a well-known pickpocket as a confederate, took him to New York with half a dozen guards and claimed the rest of the $20,000. The ruse might have worked, except for the fact that an assistant district attorney secured information about Colyar and blocked his plans.

* * *

Atlanta Georgian, May 24th 1913, “Colyar Called Convict and Insane,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Chief Beavers Not Surprised at Col. Felder’s Statements

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Chief Beavers

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

“I am not surprised,” said Chief Beavers when asked to give an expression on Colonel T. B. Felder’s alleged statement regarding graft and immorality in the detective department. “I am not surprised in the least.

“However, I don’t think it would be very nice of him to have me ridden through the streets naked, as he is reported to have threatened. Besides being not nice, he might lay himself liable to prosecution for public idecency.”

Further than this, Chief Beavers maintained the sphinx-like attitude which has characterized him ever since a certain memorable occasion when he closed the red light district.

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, May 24th 1913, “Chief Beavers Not Surprised at Col. Felder’s Statements,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Charlie C. Jones Shown by Dictograph to Have Been Foxy; Detective Miles Talks Freely

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Charlie C

George M. Gentry, stenographer who heard dictograph conversation in adjoining room and took it down in shorthand.

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Proprietor of “Rex” Near-Beer Saloon and Private Sleuth Are Quoted as Having Negotiated With Febuary for Papers in Phagan Case—Jones Was Very Cautious in His Utterances

MILES WAS QUITE POSITIVE MAYOR WOODWARD WOULD SEE TO IT THAT FEBUARY WAS PROTECTED

Following the alleged dictographed conversations of Colonel Thomas B. Felder and Mayor Woodward Wednesday afternoon an engagement was made by A. S. Colyar for Charles C. Jones, proprietor of the “Rex” near-beer saloon, and E. O. Miles, a private detective, to meet G. C. Febuary, secretary to Chief of Detectives N. A. Lanford, in room No. 31 of Williams House No.2, to further discuss the subject of extracting certain papers from the safe of the chief of detectives.

This alleged discussion was also dictographed, and from the dictograph record it appears that Jones was too foxy for the ingenious machine. He was apparently very guarded in his utterances, although he took occasion to attack Police Chief Beavers and Marion Jackson, of the Men and Religious Forward Movement, for their part in closing up the restricted district.

Miles was more frank in his conversation. The dictograph record quotes him as agreeing to meet Colyar and Febuary outside Fulton county for the transfer of the papers and assuring the latter that he would be protected by Mayor Woodward.

THE DICTOGRAPH RECORD.

Following is the dictograph record on the Miles-Jones-Febuary-Colyar conversation:

The following conversation occurred in room No. 31 at Williams House, No. 2, 34-36 N. Forsyth street, Atlanta, Georgia, Wednesday evening between eight and nine o’clock, between C. C. Jones, E. O. Miles and A. S. Colyar:

Colyar: It has been very warm today, hasn’t it?

Miles: Yes, it has. I asked Mr. Felder if you mentioned Mr. Jones’ name to him and he said no. Continue Reading →

Felder Charges Police Plot to Shield Slayer

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G. C. Febuary Lanford's clerk, who alleges bribery offer; Febuary alleges that Felder offered $1,000 for police records. He is a modest, unassuming young man, in whom Lanford and Beavers have complete confidence.

G. C. Febuary Lanford’s clerk, who alleges bribery offer; Febuary alleges that Felder offered $1,000 for police records. He is a modest, unassuming young man, in whom Lanford and Beavers have complete confidence.

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Colonel Thomas B. Felder entered into an explicit and detailed denial to The Georgian of all the charges of attempted bribery contained in the affidavits signed by G. C. Febuary, secretary to Chief of Detectives Lanford, and A. S. Colyar, a private detective with spectacular career.

Colonel Felder declared the alleged dictograph record of conversation he is alleged to have had with Colyar and Febuary in Williams House No. 2 a “frame-up” and a fabrication.

The report that he had offered $1,000 for the Coleman affidavit in the Phagan case and affidavits said to indicate graft in the Police Department he branded as absolutely false.

The whole plot had been concocted, he said, to discredit himself and W. J. Burns and drive them from the Phagan case so the guilty person might be protected.

“Every move made by the police in the Phagan case has been for the protection of the real criminal,” said Colonel Felder. “The police have kept an innocent negro there in a cell for three weeks in the hope that they can crush a confession out of him and let the real culprit go free.

“Guilty Person Protected.”

“If the desire were not to protect the guilty person, why should they desire to eliminate Burns and myself? Burns has a reputation for landing every criminal he goes after. He has a reputation for being absolutely merciless in the manner he hunts down his man. It is as certain as anything can be in the detection of criminals that he will be successful, once he gets started on a case. He is known to be unpurchasable. Everybody knows that he could have accepted a million dollars at any time during the chase for the McNamara brothers if he had been willing to say that he had not been able to find the dynamiters. Continue Reading →

A. S. Colyar Makes Answer to Charges of Col. Felder

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AS Colyar Makes

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

A. S. Colyar, when seen last night by a representative of The Atlanta Constitution, gave out the following statement:

“I have just read Colonel T. B. Felder’s card in the bedtime edition of The Atlanta Georgian, in which he sees fit to call me, behind my back, a liar and a crook. Knowing the colonel as I do, and as his intimate friends know, he is a past grand master on explanations. The Atlanta Journal, in its Friday afternoon home edition, published every detail of the case, with the sworn statements of Mr. February [sic], Mr. Ozburn, Mr. Gentry, Mr. Suries and myself, and I do not care at the present time to dignify this astute politician with any further controversy.”

* * *

Atlanta Constitution, May 24th 1913, “A. S. Colyar Makes Answer to Charges of Col. Felder,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Dorsey Steers Clear of Felder Controversy

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Dorsey Steers ClearAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Journal

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Says He Will Not Allow Himself to Be Drawn Into Row of Attorney and Detectives

Solicitor General Hugh M. Dorsey said Saturday morning relative to the Felder affair:

“This controversy will have no bearing on the prosecution of any one who may be indicted in the Phagan case. I have no reasons to question the good faith and sincerity of Colonel Thomas B. Felder. Also, I am certain the city detectives are not ‘double-crossing’ or misleading me as has been suggested.”

Mr. Dorsey would make no statement relative to the grand jury following Chief Lanford’s suggestion that it was “up to them to act” in the Felder matter.

In the detective’s dictagraph [sic] manuscript, which purports to record a conversation between Attorney Felder, A. S. Colyar and G. C. February [sic], in Williams House No. 3, Mr. Felder is quoted as saying he could “control” among other officials, the solicitor general.

Solicitor Dorsey is quoted as saying in reply:

“Why there is no use for me to deny any such remarks as those attributed to Colonel Felder, and I certainly do not wish to express my opinions in the matter. In fact, I know nothing whatever of the affair except what is generally known to the public.

“Colonel Felder never expressed to me any intention of taking steps to attempt to show graft or fraud on the part of the city police or detectives,” replied the solicitor when asked if during his conference in regard to the Phagan case. Colonel Felder had made any expression in regard to the present situation.

“The latest conference I had with Colonel Felder was when he came to my home last Sunday night to confer upon the Phagan case. As I announced publicly some time ago, I worked with him as I have done with others interested in probing the matter. I received what information I could from them, but kept my own theories and results of investigations to myself.

“As far as I know, there had never been any disturbing force in operation between the city detectives and Colonel Felder,” he replied to a query on this point.

* * *

Atlanta Journal, May 24th 1913, “Dorsey Steers Clear of Felder Controversy,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Three Strangling Deaths: Why I Chose to Write About the Leo Frank Case

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A newly-discovered photograph of Mary Phagan

Mary Phagan

by Scott Aaron

IT MAY WELL BE the greatest murder mystery of all time. Some assert that the Mary Phagan murder case is solved, but those who so assert are of two different and mutually exclusive camps. And those two camps still stand diametrically opposed to this day, four generations later. The case aroused the outrage and ire and vengeance of two great communities. One, the Jewish community, feel overwhelmingly today, and felt to a lesser but still substantial extent in 1913, that Leo Frank was tried and condemned simply because he was a Jew. They believe that Leo Frank is so obviously innocent that he never would have been tried had it not been for endemic anti-Semitism in 1913 Atlanta. And they have been remarkably effective in making  Southern anti-Semitism the leitmotif of virtually all drama, documentary, and other remembrance of this case for the last half century. The other, the largely Christian Southern gentile community, believed overwhelmingly in 1913 — and to an unknown but doubtlessly  large degree still believes today — that justice was done when all the jurors, and every appeal court in the land including the Supreme Court of the United States, after a monumental and impressively-funded defense, agreed that Leo Frank was fairly tried and convicted for the murder of Mary Phagan. And it must rankle Southerners almost beyond words to be accused of anti-Semitism, when no Christian community anywhere on earth has so respected and welcomed Jews, has so openly acknowledged its spiritual roots in Judaism, or has so enthusiastically supported the Jewish state of Israel. Continue Reading →

Miles Says He Had Mayor Go to Room

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Miles SaysAnother in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Georgian

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

Wanted Woodward to See Just What Sort of a Crook Colyar Was, He Declares.

Edward O. Miles, a private detective, assumes the responsibility for the presence of Mayor Woodward at the Williams House, resulting in the dictographing of the Chief Executive of Atlanta. He also says it was at his suggestion Colonel Thomas B. Felder discontinued even his acquaintance with A. S. Colyar, the wild-eyed investigator from Tennessee.

Miles’ statement to a Georgian reporter follows:

“Colonel Felder had already been to see Colyar and he asked me to go and see what he had; to examine any papers, etc.

“I went and as soon as I saw Colyar I was disgusted. The Lord doesn’t make mistakes, and the Lord certainly put the brand of a crook on that fellow’s physiognomy if He ever put it anywhere.

“Colyar wanted Mayor Woodward and asked me to get him. I went to the Mayor and said: ‘I want to take you down to see the greatest freak and crook you ever saw in your life. I want you to hear his line of bunk. You don’t have to say anything—just come along and listen to what he hands out.”

Thought Someone Listened.

“That was Wednesday afternoon. I didn’t think anything about a dictograph, but I knew, or at least thought, that he had somebody listening in the next room. I couldn’t help knowing that, because every now and then Colyar raised his voice so they could hear. Anybody on the streets a block could have heard him had they listened.

“After the conversation, practically as reported in the dictograph, Mayor Woodward left.

“Colyar told me not to forget to bring Colonel Felder and the money next morning at 10 o’clock. I asked him what money, and he said the $1,000 for the papers. I told him I didn’t want to buy any papers; that if Colonel Felder or anybody else did, that was their business, but I didn’t believe they did.

“Then I went back and reported to Colonel Felder and advised him to have nothing more to do with Colyar, not to go back to the Williams House and even not answer his telephone calls.

Felder Quit Negotiations.

“They waited all day Thursday, and Colonel Felder didn’t go back and didn’t answer the telephone calls. That’s why it was published in incompleted form. They saw the jig was up, and I believe Colyar then sold the story.

“I know young Gentry, who took down the dictograph report, and I’ll wager $100 he won’t sign an affidavit it has been published in unexpurgated form. Nothing has been added, but some things have been left out. However, I can’t say that the omissions made any material change.

“Yes, I am the one that caused Mayor Woodward to go there. He is all right. I just wanted him to hear the line of bunk that crook had to hand out.”

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Atlanta Georgian, May 24th 1913, “Miles Says He Had Mayor Go to Room,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)

Solicitor General Dorsey Talks of the Bribe Charge

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Solicitor General

Another in our series of new transcriptions of contemporary articles on the Leo Frank case.

Atlanta Constitution

Saturday, May 24th, 1913

A merry laugh was the first comment made by Solicitor General Hugh Dorsey when told of the reported dictograph evidence in which Colonel T. B. Felder is quoted as saying that he could control the mayor, the criminal court judge and Hugh Dorsey.

Solicitor Dorsey was at his home at the time, endeavoring to find rest and recreation after the morning’s work of placing the evidence in the Phagan case before the grand jury. Hugh Dorsey, Jr., was in his arms at the time and from the lad’s continuous efforts to express his joy in billing and cooing, he was as happy at having his father with him as the solicitor was to be at home and away from the strain of work in the case to which he has devoted his entire time for weeks.

“Why there is no use for me to deny any such remarks as those attributed to Colonel Felder, and I certainly do not wish to express my opinion in the amtter [sic]. In fact, I know nothing whatever of the affair except what is generally known to the public.

“Colonel Felder never expressed to me any intention of taking steps to attempt to show graft or fraud on the part of the city police or detectives,” replied the solicitor when asked if during his conferences in regard to the Phagan case, Colonel Felder had made any expression in regard to the present situation.

“The latest conference I had with Colonel Felder was when he came to my home last Sunday night to confer upon the Phagan case. As I announced publicly some time ago, I worked with him as I have done with others interested in probing the matter. I received what information I could from them, but kept my own theories and results of investigations to myself.

“As far as I know, there had never been any disturbing force in operation between the city detectives and Colonel Felder,” he replied to a query on this point.

“I really would prefer not to discuss the matter at all,” the solicitor insisted. “I have no connection with the affair whatever it may be, and I don’t care to be drawn into it. I want to devote my entire time and thought to the Phagan case and to securing a conviction of the guilty parties.”

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Atlanta Constitution, May 24th 1913, “Solicitor General Dorsey Talks of the Bribe Charge,” Leo Frank case newspaper article series (Original PDF)